“We’ve been looking at the way we manage calls to make sure it is as efficient as possible and make sure you get to talk to someone in the first instance who can answer your query,” he told Seven.

Under the new contracts to private sector providers, Serco will engage additional staff at their Victorian call centres and Stellar Asia Pacific, Concentrix Services and DataCom Connect will create jobs based in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Today’s announcement is on top of the 1000 call centre staff added in April who were based in based in Australia, but hired by private companies after a six-month, $51.7 million trial of 250 call centre operators employed by Serco.

Mr Keenan said the department was going through enormous technological change.

“Over time, I would like people to interact on the digital channels so you can sit on your couch and do everything you need to do with the government,” he said.

“Whilst we undergo that transformation, I would like to ensure people still get the service experience that they need.”